Press release: Like magic! How our world organizes itself
No. 111 - 02.07.2025
Interactive special exhibition opens at Forum Wissen on 27 August
The title of the new interactive special exhibition at the knowledge museum of the University of Göttingen is “Like magic! How our world organizes itself”. It covers topics as diverse as the physics of clouds, turbulent currents, and the origin of life. The exhibition includes a model wind farm, a 3D simulation of bacteria, and various games so you can have a go yourself and get involved. It runs from 28 August 2025 to 1 February 2026 at the Forum Wissen Göttingen.
At first glance, researching clouds to improve climate models and predicting the behaviour of tumour cells do not seem to have much in common. However, although they are completely different systems – one involving living things and the other not – there are surprising similarities: individual parts of both clouds and tumour cells organise themselves independently into complex structures that then perform a specific function. In fact, there are many examples of how our world organizes itself: the patterns of movement of bacteria, atmospheric currents, and molecular processes in cells. The “Like magic!” exhibition reveals all this in a clear and interesting way to adults and children alike. Explanations about each of the exhibits are shown in both German and English.
The inspiration for the exhibition comes from research themes at Göttingen’s Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The special exhibition was curated by Tatjana Dübbel at the Forum Wissen in collaboration with Manuel Maidorn at the MPI-DS. A fifth-grade class from the Felix Klein Gymnasium school in Göttingen were involved as a children's advisory board for the exhibition. Their expert input included developing an interactive station.
During the exhibition, there will be a varied programme of events, including talks and a laser show on the outside of the Forum Wissen.
Information for visitors:
Everyone is welcome to join the opening event on Wednesday 27 August at 18:30.
The exhibition runs from 28 August 2025 to 1 February 2026 at the Forum Wissen Göttingen in its “Freiraum”. It’s free of charge to visit the exhibition and join events.
Forum Wissen - the knowledge museum of the University of Göttingen
Berliner Straße 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Further information: https://www.forum-wissen.de/en/sonderausstellungen/magic-how-our-world-organizes-itself/
Information for journalists
You are warmly invited to join the digital press conference (in German but questions in English are welcomed) on Monday 18 August at 14:00. Please register by Thursday 14 August: eva.voelker@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
The following will be happy to answer questions:
- Professor Eberhard Bodenschatz, Director, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation
- Tatjana Dübbel, Curator, Exhibition Team, Forum Wissen
- Dr Manuel Maidorn, Co-Curator, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation
In addition, there will be a tour of the exhibition in person for the press at the Forum Wissen on Monday 25 August 2025 at 11:00.
Press enquiries:
Eva Völker, Press Office, Forum Wissen
Email: eva.voelker@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Academic enquiries:
Tatjana Dübbel, Centre for Collection Management, Forum Wissen
Email: duebbel@forum-wissen.de